


Find Yourself

by Ree_Dragon



Series: Beyond Their Star [7]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Blue Pearl is mute, Gen, I have more tags but don't want to spoil things, So's Jasper, The Diamonds are pants-wettingly terrifying okay?, non-canon weapon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-03 05:22:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16319939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ree_Dragon/pseuds/Ree_Dragon
Summary: Takes place right at the end of Just One Day.Yellow Pearl inadvertently interrupts Steven's birthday party when she winds up in the temple in her attempt to flee Homeworld.  Has she found the safety she seeks, or has she jumped from one fire into another?





	1. Discovered

“I escaped! I can’t go back - Yellow Diamond will shatter me! Please, I’ll do anything - I just want to exist!”

Her pleas seemed to make no difference. If anything, the water surrounding her seemed to squeeze her tighter, and the Lapis Lazuli who held her - the very same Lapis Lazuli who had returned to Homeworld lost and scared after thousands of years of being presumed dead - narrowed her eyes, looking every bit as intimidating as a battle-ready Quartz.

“How did you find us?” the blue gem snarled, taking a step closer.

Yellow Diamond’s Pearl - oh, but she couldn’t call herself that anymore, could she? - whimpered, resisting the urge to struggle. She needed to do something to convince these gems she wasn’t a threat, but what? “It was an accident! I was just looking for a place to hide, and then I ended up here.”

“Lapis, that’s enough.” A pink gem with a body that certainly didn’t match her stone - an off-color? - approached the blue gem, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t think she’s here to hurt us.”

Lapis turned to look at the other gem for a moment, and then closed her eyes and dissipated her wings.

The Pearl fell to the ground in a heap. She sat up quickly, not wanting to be lying prone when surrounded by so many other gems, and pressed her back against the door behind her. That was as far away as she could get from everyone - she was trapped and at their mercy. Of all the planets to land on, it had to be Earth, didn’t it? Of course it did. And of all the places she could have warped to, she just had to end up in some primitive building infested by Crystal Gems. That would be her luck!

The pink-but-not-pink gem approached her, kneeling down to her level. “Hey, it’s alright. You’re safe here.”

Safe? She looked from the pink gem to the blue, and then to everyone else assembled. For Crystal Gems, they looked nothing like she imagined. When it became apparent that the traitors had survived and were giving Homeworld trouble, she’d expected an army of Quartzes and Rubies with the occasional random gem thrown in. Not…this. There was the Lapis with her terrifying water powers, the permafusion, the deformed quartz with her whip out and at the ready, another Pearl with a spear…wasn’t that the Peridot that had called the main Diamond line all those months ago? And then her gaze locked on the final gem in the wherever-this-was, her eyes widening. She knew that gem! That was—well, no, what she had been wasn’t important. They may be a far cry from an army, but most of them looked like they wanted to do anything but keep her safe.

“You’re a Pearl, right?” the other gem spoke again, regaining the Pearl’s focus. “My name’s Stevonnie. It’s…umm…a little confusing having multiple gems here who go by Pearl. Mind if we call you Yellow, for now?”

“Sure. Whatever you want.” If the Pearl - Yellow now, she supposed - had really made an ally in this strange gem, she was willing to do whatever it took to keep on her good side. Yellow wracked her brain, trying to remember all the best pieces of information she had to share with this group. The sooner she got to that, the sooner she could convince them all of her worth. Living with the Crystal Gems wasn’t the ideal, but at least it was living.

Stevonnie looked toward the others assembled. “Do you mind giving us some space? I don’t think she’s dangerous - she’s just lost and scared.” Her expression changed to one of caution. “But is this really okay?” The reassuring mask returned. “Of course it is. She would have done something already if she wanted to.” Her smile melted into a frown. “Well, if you say so.” The smile returned. “Trust me - she’s one of us now.”

Yellow frowned as she watched the pink gem. Why was she talking to herself? Was that one of her off-color quirks?

Lapis frowned. “Stevonnie, I don’t think—”

“It’ll be fine.” The permafusion started walking toward the Peridot and other Pearl.

The closest Pearl turned to the Permafusion. “Should we really just drop our guard like that?”

“She won’t attack,” the permafusion assured her. She was right - Yellow couldn’t fight any of these gems even if she wanted to.

The Pearl looked from the permafusion to Yellow and back. Then her spear disappeared and she followed. “Well, all right…”

The Lapis grimaced, but followed a moment later. The diminutive Amethyst shrugged and walked after her. Yellow relaxed - one Crystal Gem in her immediate space wasn’t bad, right? They weren’t going to hurt her, at least. Or this was a trick…

Stevonnie lowered into a sitting position, smiling at her. Yellow looked past her at the other gems, who’d gathered by the window and were discussing something too quietly for her to hear. It probably had something to do with her, but they were deferring to the pink gem. Was she the leader, then? That was…fortunate.

“So, Yellow, what brings you to Earth?” Stevonnie’s question brought Yellow’s focus back to the pink gem. “I mean, I know you said Yellow Diamond wanted to shatter you, but why here specifically?”

“I don’t know…” Yellow looked away - that stare was a bit too intense for her. “I didn’t choose. I didn’t have time. I just ran, and then I entered the first coordinates that came to mind. Then when the ship got taken over, I had to rely on the escape pod.” He shuddered, the memory of the rogue quartzes still too fresh in her mind. Only her knowledge of the ship’s layout had saved her, but her companion didn’t need to know that part, did she?

“I’m glad you were able to get away,” the other gem replied. “And I’m really glad you’re here. The Earth is great - it’s where gems of all kinds can come and be free!”

Yellow couldn’t help it - she started laughing. And once she started, it was impossible to stop. She wasn’t sure what it was - normally she had impeccable control over herself, or she wouldn’t have lasted for so many thousands of years as Yellow Diamond’s personal Pearl. But she wasn’t Yellow Diamond’s anymore - Yellow Diamond wanted her shattered, and she’d never be able to go home again, and of all the planets she’d come to it just had to be this one. The one with the rebels and the organic life and the cluster set to emerge at any moment.

Wait.

“Do you have a ship?” Yellow had sobered instantly, and she looked around the room in a panic. This place really was primitive - did the Crystal Gems even remember what spaceships were?

Stevonnie frowned. “Uh…no. And there’s not really anywhere we need to—”

“We need to find a way off planet - now.” Yellow stood, looking toward the assembled group. Maybe she should speak to them? Subordinates or not, they looked a bit more intelligent than her current companion, and time was of the essence. “There’s a geoweapon incubating in this planet’s crust. When it emerges, it’ll destroy the entire Earth!”

“Oh, that.” Stevonnie grinned. “It’s okay. We took care of it.”

Yellow stared at the other gem. Took care of it?! But it was larger than a planet - or would be when it formed! How could a handful of gems possibly “take care of it”?

Stevonnie must have seen the confusion on her face, because she grinned at her in a manner Yellow was half-certain was supposed to be reassuring. It wasn’t. The other gem rose to her feet and held out a hand. “Let’s get comfortable. It’s kind of a long story.”

After a moment, Yellow took the hand. What did she have to lose? She allowed Stevonnie to lead her toward the sofa, and she sat down beside the other gem to listen to her explanation.


	2. Intearrupted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A pleasant moment is interrupted, because we can't go two seconds without some emergency or other.

_At least it’s peaceful._

That was the thought that comforted her as she stared into her cup - empty save for the bag of dried leaves and flower petals that would flavor the water once it finished heating. Yellow had yet to decide if this was her favorite or least favorite thing about being stuck on Earth with the remnants of Rose Quartz’s rebel army. It started the evening of Day Two of her time here - apparently tea was one of the very few things Pearl would consume, and Blue enjoyed it about as much. Steven had suggested a daily tea time for the Pearls, and somehow the plan had stuck.

Not that they did it every day. Sometimes, Pearl or Blue or both would have a mission or some other obligation that kept them out late, and no one but Amethyst wanted to do anything that made any amount of noise at night while Steven slept. This would be their third tea time in the week she’d been stranded here. It wasn’t just for the Pearls, either. Anyone that happened to be home was welcome to participate. This had worked out well for her the first two nights, since Steven and Garnet had both joined them and they both treated her with some degree of kindness that made Blue’s presence and Lapis’ attitude easier to ignore.

Unfortunately, she’d run out of luck for the day. She and the other two Pearls were present, of course, but there was only one other gem in the house right now, and that gem just happened to be Lapis. She and Blue were sitting across from her, taking their turns moving their hands and arms in that weird way Blue used to communicate with everyone. It was odd that Lapis did that back rather than speaking normally - nothing was wrong with Blue’s hearing, after all - and she’d thought that it was so they could talk without her understanding what was going on, but Steven assured her that they did that even before she’d arrived. It seemed pointless, but she knew better than to point it out. All the Crystal Gems had certain…eccentricities - some shared and some unique to a specific gem. The sooner she accepted that, the sooner she could focus on the million and five other things she needed to learn and do to survive on this stars-forsaken planet.

With her only other company busy tending the kettle on the stove, Yellow’s gaze wandered over the house, occasionally flicking back to the two blue gems. Whatever they were discussing seemed to be amusing. At least, there were points when Lapis let out a brief chuckle, and other points when Blue did what Yellow supposed was meant to be a laugh. It was a breathy, quiet sound that still somehow grated on her every nerve, but she was doing a pretty good job of not showing her irritation. At least, no one was saying anything.

It did hit her at that moment, though, that she’d never experienced the other Pearl’s laugh before coming to Earth. Not once in their five-thousand odd years of knowing each other. Yet here and now, she seemed to do it often. In fact, here and now she seemed to do a lot that Yellow would never have thought of her…like anything social. She seemed perfectly comfortable around all the gems and the few humans Yellow had met so far - but why wouldn’t she be when they treated her with far more respect than her station granted? Back on Homeworld, the other Pearl kept close to her owner, as though she were Blue Diamond’s pampered pet.

But then, Yellow had been her Diamond’s trusted secretary until recently, and now she was a refugee who would wind up shattered if Yellow Diamond ever got a hold of her again. Funny how things could change so drastically…and in such a short amount of time.

The warp pad activated, providing a very welcome distraction from her thoughts. When the light faded, she saw Amethyst and Peridot standing among a heap of what seemed to be useless Earth junk. Amethyst opened the temple door to her room - a purple beach covered in piles of garbage and items of dubious use - and the two started dragging everything inside, talking about “barns” and “Camp Pining Hearts” and other things she didn’t care to understand.

“Hello, Yellow.”

Yellow let of a started squeak and spun around. Garnet was right behind her, holding a stack of boxes that looked like they came from the pizza shop Steven and Amethyst liked to frequent. Blue “laughed” at her, and she shot the other Pearl a glare before turning her attention back to her new leader. She dipped her head in returned greeting - the gems here weren’t fond of bows or salutes, but they seemed to accept nods for some reason.

“Welcome back, Garnet. How was the mission?”

Garnet held up the stack of boxes. “We have pizza.”

That…wasn’t the mission she’d been asking about, but Yellow nodded, wincing at the sudden cheer from near the warp pad. Apparently, Amethyst had been in earshot at that moment. “That’s good, right?”

The permafusion gave one of her odd, cryptic smiles and walked away without answering, setting the pizzas down on the counter. She came to join them after, sitting between Yellow and Blue. Yellow watched her, glad that she was well-practiced in biting back comments that might anger her superiors. She hated it when Garnet did that - she almost never explained anything, or talked much, or acted anything like a normal gem.

Heh…as if any of these gems acted normal. But at least now she had some company that didn’t outright hate her. Maybe tonight’s teatime wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

The door opened - what was with everyone returning home at the same time, today? - and Steven hurried in, carrying a box almost as big as he was. “Hey guys, I’m ba-oh, is it tea time already?”

As if to answer him, the kettle whistled. Pearl lifted it off the stove and set it aside, taking a moment to shut off the stove before pulling more cups out of the cabinets. “It is. You’re right on time.”

“What is that, anyway?” Peridot stared at the box as Steven set it down by the warp pad.

“Just some old stuff from the car wash,” Steven answered. “Dad bought some new equipment, but he didn’t wanna just throw the old stuff out, so he asked me to see if you guys had a use for any of it first.”

“We’ll sort through it later,” Pearl promised as Steven came to join them.

“If nothin’ else, I could always use a new pile in my room.” Amethyst took a seat beside Lapis. “I know the perfect spot to put everything, too!”

Steven grinned. “We can always count on Amethyst to have some extra space for any random thing we need to store!”

Amethyst grinned back, shrugged, and laced her fingers behind her head. “What can I say? I’m super reliable.”

There was a snort and then a cackle from Lapis. Amethyst’s grin widened and she leaned back so she was laying on her back on the floor, crossing her ankles on the edge of the table.

Pearl sighed and walked over to the table, grabbing Amethyst’s feet and moving them to the floor. “We will be having food and drink on here, and I know exactly where you’ve been.”

Amethyst cackled and sat back up. “Just keepin’ ya on your toes, P.”

“You’re good at that,” came the dry response from the pale Pearl.

“I’ll never get used to this, will I?” She hadn’t really meant to say that out loud, and she cringed at the realization she had. Both Steven and Amethyst turned to her; their gazes curious rather than angry, fortunately, but the attention still made her body tense, and she couldn’t help but glance toward the door and try calculating an escape route.

Even if it was an escape route she knew she didn’t need.

“Get used to what?” Steven asked after a moment.

“Just…this…” Yellow struggled to find the words she needed. Normally that was her best talent, but Earth seemed to have a way of turning everything out wrong. “Back ho-on Homeworld, a Pearl would never dream of touching a Quartz, and most Quartzes wouldn’t tolerate such insolence. Here, all of you respect her-” She nodded toward Pearl, “and you even let her order you around.”

Amethyst shrugged. “Well, yeah. Homeworld’s stupid rules don’t apply here.”

“I think you’ll be okay,” Steven added. “I mean, it took everyone else a while to adjust, too, but now we’re all like one happy family.”

“More or less,” Lapis muttered.

Steven turned to her. “Well, we all have our ups and downs…maybe some more than others. That’s okay, though. That’s why we have each other - so everyone has at least one other person to learn on when they need support.”

“I thought you had each other because you wanted to protect the Earth,” Yellow responded. There was a lot of talk like that in the…team, or family, or whatever it was they liked to call themselves in whatever moment. “I remember a certain someone-” her gaze shot toward Peridot, who was nearby but busily doing…something on her tablet. “-yelling something along those lines.”

Steven smiled at her. “It can be both.”

Pearl returned to the table and started filling the cups. “What matters is that we keep each other alive and safe to the best of our ability.”

She gave them a vague nod, but otherwise focused on her tea, watching it slowly steep. It was better than looking at her companions and thinking about her predicament. It wasn’t all bad, she knew, but it was all so drastically different from everything she knew. All aspects of her old life were gone, and now she had a new set of rules, gems, tasks, and activities to keep track of. It was overwhelming, to say the least.

“Yellow?”

Yellow turned to Steven, who was looking at her with that concerned frown he always wore when she’d been caught thinking too much. “Yes?”

“Are you okay?”

“Fine.” Yellow turned back to her cup, willing herself to at least appear relaxed. If she did, maybe he wouldn’t press. Her thoughts were the last thing she wanted to talk about. She didn’t even really want to think them, but it wasn’t like she had a choice. She wished the other gems were more talkative today. Even Steven and Amethyst rambling about wrestling or whatever weird Earth thing held their interest today would be a welcome distraction.

Steven stood and walked away. Yellow thought she upset him for a moment, but then he returned with a couple pizza boxes, settling them down near the middle of the table. Pearl eyed the boxes warily, but didn’t say or do anything against their inclusion in tea time. But of course she didn’t - it was rare when Steven didn’t get his way, even if he wasn’t their leader. It was because he was kind and almost endlessly patient, she was sure. It was hard to be otherwise to him in return.

Amethyst laughed and snagged half of the top pizza for herself, shoving two pieces in her mouth and swallowing so fast that Yellow was sure she hadn’t bothered to chew, first…or taste what she was eating. “All we’re missing’s a movie to watch.”

“We have a nice fire, though.” Steven gestured toward the fireplace. “We can watch that and each other.”

“True enough.” Amethyst shoved another slice of pizza into her mouth. Steven followed her lead, though he was much slower about eating, taking a single bite from the tip of his slice.

A timer in the kitchen area beeped, and Pearl got up to shut it off. That was the cue that the tea was done steeping, so Yellow lifted the teabag out of her cup.

“Hey Lapis, teabag me!” Amethyst held out her hand expectantly.

“Amethyst!” Pearl returned to the table, shooting the purple quartz a glare.

Amethyst gave her a wide grin in response. “What? Steven’s fifteen now. Practically a grown man, right? And he’s the youngest one here.”

“There’s a joke here I’m not getting, isn’t there?” Lapis handed her teabag to Amethyst.

“I don’t get it, either. Must be a human thing.” Peridot also handed hers over, prompting Yellow and everyone else to do the same. Not like she was going to eat it herself, anyway. She may be more open to taste than the other two Pearls, but she had her limits.

“A lewd human thing,” Pearl confirmed.

Amethyst gleefully shoved all teabags in her mouth at once. And these she was chewing…almost delicately. Why?

Ugh! Whatever. Yellow sipped from her tea, letting the mix of flowers and herbs linger on her tongue a moment before swallowing. Perhaps Earth was worth saving just for this…but there were still many, many things she missed from home. Earth technology as it stood right now just didn’t come close to comparing with what she was accustomed to, and she’d had friends among the Pearls belonging to Yellow Diamond’s elite.

Or so she’d thought… It wasn’t like any of those Pearls had aided in her escape. Stars, they could have even escaped with her! They could have formed their own court somewhere far away from Homeworld’s reach! But they just stood there and let everything happen…

…And she was depressing herself again. She forced her thoughts to the back of her mind for now and tried to focus on the conversation at the table. It wasn’t anything interesting - Steven was rambling about the cartoon with the sobbing fruit that he liked for some reason - but it was better than what would otherwise be on her mind. Even better, everyone else looked just about as clueless as she felt. Amethyst and Lapis were following along, but they were the only ones, and they looked half-bored by the subject.

Garnet’s expression changed subtly - her lips lowering into a slight frown. She stood and walked to the wrap pad. “Amethyst, Peridot, Lapis, come with me.”

“Mission time?” Amethyst finished off her tea - cup and all - and climbed to her feet before walking over to join her leader.

Garnet nodded. “There’s going to be an attack on Empire City. We have to stop it before any humans are hurt.”

Pearl cringed. “Homeworld?”

Garnet shook her head. “Thankfully, no. It’s a group of corrupted gems.”

“Should be easy enough to handle.” Peridot followed Amethyst to the warp pad. “We’re objectively the smarter and stronger team!”

“Can I come?” Steven stood and took a step toward the warp pad, but stopped when Garnet held out a hand.

“You’ll want to be here for your guest.”

“I can call Connie and tell her to meet up with me later,” Steven offered. “Or ask her to come over early and we can go as Stevonnie!”

“Maybe next time.” Garnet gave him a small smile, and Steven sat back down with a quiet sigh.

Amethyst gave him a sympathetic smile - one of the rare times she looked genuine. “We can’t all go on every adventure.”

Steven nodded. “Yeah, I know. Hope you guys have fun.”

Amethyst waved. “You, too. Don’t miss us too much while we’re gone.”

“Lapis.” Garnet’s voice was sharper than it had been when she’d called the other gems to join her.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” Lapis gulped down the last of her tea and turned to Blue. “You gonna be okay while I’m gone?”

Blue nodded, and Lapis headed to the warp pad. The assembled gems vanished in a beam of light.

“I hope everyone’ll be okay…” Steven took another bite of his pizza, though he didn’t seem to be enjoying it anymore.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine.” Pearl smiled at him. “They’ll be back before you know it.”

Blue signed something at him that seemed to cheer him up slightly.

“Yeah, we can,” Steven responded. “We’ll make them all jealous when they get back! Except…that’s not very nice…but we can invite them to the next outing. Then everyone can be happy!”

“Another outing?” Yellow stared at him. “Haven’t you visited the city twice today already?”

Steven beamed at her. “Yep! But not with company. Did you want to join us? I mean, we’d need to wait for Connie, but she’s usually on time or even early, so it won’t be too much longer.”

“Why not?” She didn’t want to join in, but that wouldn’t be the right answer. Not if she wanted to continue impressing everyone. “What did you have in mind?”

“I figured we’d all walk to the boardwalk, and then see what everyone wanted to do from there,” Steven replied. “There’s a lot we can do! Play games at the arcade, go to Funland, visit Dad at the car wash, read books at the library…it’ll be fun!”

“It might be a bit too late in the day for Funland or the arcade,” Pearl pointed out.

Steven gave her a confused look and then checked his phone. “Huh…yeah, I guess you’re right, but there’s still the car wash and library, and we can always hang out on the beach. I don’t think Yellow’s had a chance to really enjoy it yet.”

Blue signed…something. Yellow didn’t know what, and no one bothered to translate, but she noticed both Pearl’s sharp stare and Steven’s disapproving frown.

“Yellow’s actually doing pretty well in her reading, though,” Steven responded. “And in adjusting to Earth in general. You should give her more of a chance.”

Yellow snorted, certain she knew what the other Pearl had indicated. Well, whatever. Blue could think whatever she wanted of Yellow - it wasn’t like her own opinion of the pale blue gem was particularly flattering.

Tea and one of the pizzas were finished in silence. Pearl and Blue gathered the dishes to put in the sink while Steven put the pizzas away. Yellow watched them - wasn’t like she could help without getting in the way, even if she wanted to. Steven’s room was rather small by Homeworld standards, and the kitchen area was particularly tiny.

“Hey, Steven! Sorry I’m late.” Connie entered the room as Steven returned to the sofa, and the boy changed directions to go meet his friend, instead. “Homework took longer than I thought it would, but now it’s done and I can hang out until my mom gets off work!”

Steven beamed at her. “That’s great! So what do—”

The warp pad activated, distracting everyone.

“Steven!” Lapis sped toward the half-gem, barely giving the light from the warp pad time to fade.

“Lapis?” Steven turned to the darker blue gem, frowning. “What’s wrong?”

Lapis’ face turned from Steven to each of the gems and Connie in turn. She closed her eyes momentarily and drew in a deep breath, as if to try to calm herself.

“It’s Jasper. We need your help. Now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, thanks to everyone who's read, given a kudos, commented, bookmarked, and otherwise given this little fic some attention. It's very much appreciated and helps me keep going with my stories. <3
> 
> This story's been through a few false starts and parts of it have been rewritten more than once (Yellow Pearl is a very hard character to write, at least for me). The plot I had planned for it got completely and totally derailed sometime around the next chapter, too (for the better, I think), and something I wasn't expecting ended up happening instead. Because of this, you may see some buildup in these first two chapters that may or may not get resolved by the end of the fic. I'm still going with it - that's why it hasn't been edited out - but some things just have to wait for a future installment in the series.


	3. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yellow is taken to the battlefield.

They were taking so long… Yellow paced back and forth in front of the warp pad as she waited for everyone else to return. The other gems had all rushed off to wherever Garnet had led the others as soon as Lapis mentioned Jasper, leaving her with her thoughts. That was hours ago. The sky had darkened completely a while back, and clouds moved overhead thick enough to completely block out the stars and moon. Surely they should have been back by now? How long did it take to fight a single soldier?

Even if she was one of the better Quartzes in terms of strength and combat prowess?

It wasn’t as though she didn’t understand. She did - the Crystal Gems were so few in number…of course they’d rush to each others’ aid. They couldn’t afford to lose more members, could they? And it wasn’t like she was worried about them or anything. Well…okay, maybe she was a little worried. They were protecting her, and that meant she needed them as much as they needed each other.

Maybe that was why she was feeling so anxious. Yellow Diamond did know the exact location of this base, and if she figured out her former Pearl was right here on Earth… Yellow shuddered, closed her eyes, and shook her head. That line of thought would only lead to misery. They were fine. They’d been doing this for thousands of years. Maybe the mentioned Jasper was Yellow Diamond’s prized Quartz that she’d sent down with Peridot and Lapis, but surely a group of that size could handle her?

Of course they could. All this worry was silly and unproductive. She should find some useful way to pass the time until they returned, and then they could fill her in on how the mission went. She looked around, searching for anything she could do to occupy her mind.

There was a sound near the door, and she turned to see something large and pink standing on the other side. It was still weird to see such a creature, but Steven had assured her that he was harmless and mostly tame, and he’d even given a demonstration of his pet’s powers. Lion was scratching at the door and staring intently at her. Funny…couldn’t he just teleport himself inside?

Well, whatever. She’d wanted something to do, hadn’t she? She walked to the door and opened it. “You should know he’s not h-ow!”

Lion had closed his jaws around her wrist, and he gave her a light tug toward the beach. He let go, sprinted down the stairs, and stared up at her. She scowled at him and studied her abused wrist. What had gotten into that creature? He hadn’t done any serious damage - maybe a bit of bruising, but that would go away soon enough - but he’d never attacked her before…

Lion roared at her, and she looked from him to the house. Seeing what he wanted was as good as anything else…

“All right.” She walked down the stairs after him. “What do you want?”

Lion stared at her a moment and then crouched down. Was he…asking her to ride him?

This was a weird day.

Yellow climbed onto the giant pink cat’s back, withholding a laugh. The things she did on Earth…this place would never feel normal.

Once she was securely in place, Lion stood and started running, straight toward the ocean. Before he reached it, he roared, and the world around them seemed to disappear.

Yellow was familiar with warp technology, but she’d never warped like this before. She found herself clutching the feline’s mane to keep from flying off his back. What would happen to her if the two of them ended up separated here? She shuddered and promised herself that she wasn’t going to let that happen.

At least it was brief. A few moments had passed, and then they were back on Earth, standing in the middle of a strawberry field. This had clearly been a battlefield some time ago - she could see a few weapons and a couple pieces of armor among the plants - but it was long abandoned, and organic life had taken over. She supposed the place was pretty enough, but she doubted Lion brought her here for sightseeing.

What else was there, though? She couldn’t see anything that might have caught the feline’s attention.

Well, there was definitely something here. He was treading carefully now, stopping every few steps to sniff at the ground or one of the plants. It was hard to tell from her perch on his back, but he seemed almost worried. Yellow frowned and studied the ground and strawberries around them, looking for anything she might have missed. Lion was a weird creature, but this wasn’t him being an altered organic life form. This was purposeful, and she couldn’t shake the thought that whatever he wanted was important for the Crystal Gems, as well.

As she studied her surroundings, a glint of light nearby caught her attention. She slid off Lion’s back and walked to it, crouching down to study it.

A gem?

Not only that, she knew this gem. Her insides felt oddly cold as she studied the Ruby. There were cracks on her surface - nothing deep, but definitely worrying. She should be fine as long as Yellow was careful, but she’d need to find Steven as soon as possible. Was this why Lion had brought her here? Did he witness the battle and notice casualties?

Something cold touched her elbow. Lion’s nose. She’d have to wipe herself clean later. For now, she turned to the feline, and he gestured to the ground behind him. There was a blue gem not far away, and she hurried over to collect it as well. This one seemed unharmed, at least, and she breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn’t sure was warranted.

So…she had Garnet. Great. Now, where were the others? Were they all in this condition? Yellow walked around, searching the ground for any sign of another gem nearby. If Garnet’s component gems were here, the others couldn’t be too far off.

Ah, there! She could spot Pearl’s gem, just barely peeking out from under a leaf. She hurried forward and scooped up the pale gem, as well. Her gem also seemed unharmed, so she’d be fine. This did worry her, though. If Garnet and Pearl had ended up like this, then what had happened to the others? Those two were essentially the most experienced fighters in the group, so if they’d been defeated…

No, she refused to think of that. At least one of her protectors had to be safe!

“Rrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaa _aaaaaaah_!”

That was all the warning she had before a pale ball of hair zoomed toward her. A flash of pink knocked into her, and a moment later she was on her back on the ground, staring up at Lion as he snarled at the ball. The trio of gems she’d collected were scattered around her, dropped when she’d been knocked over.

The ball stopped and uncurled, and then Amethyst was rushing toward her. “Yellow? What are you doing here?”

“Ask Steven’s pet.” At least the feline was off her now. He gave Amethyst - and then her - a look and walked off, leaving Yellow to collect the gems she’d found so far. “I take it your battle ended poorly.”

Amethyst snorted bitterly. “We could have had her, but she’s got a bunch of corrupted gems under her command. Not sure how loyal they are to her - loyal enough to attack us and keep us separated from each other.” She approached Yellow, holding out two more gems - Peridot and Blue. “Who’ve you found?”

Yellow scooped up the gems she’d dropped and held them out. Amethyst grimaced as she studied them. Ruby’s crack had widened from the drop. She wasn’t in two pieces yet, but her condition was close to dire.

“Aww, Ruby…” The purple gem closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath. “She’ll be fine. We just need to get her to Steven. Or the fountain if Steven’s too hurt. In fact, a trip to the fountain might be the best option, with how many of us got poofed.”

She sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than Yellow, but the Pearl nodded anyway. There was something Amethyst said that confused her, but she held herself back from asking. She’d find out what “the fountain” was soon enough.

“Okay… We’re missing Lapis, Steven, and Connie.” Amethyst looked around. “You probably haven’t seen them, have you?”

Yellow shook her head. “You don’t see them with me, do you?”

“That’s what I thought.” Amethyst frowned as she continued to study the landscape. “Gotta be somewhere, right?”

Lion roared from somewhere in the distance, distracting both gems from their search. Amethyst sprinted toward him, and Yellow followed close behind until Amethyst stopped abruptly. The Pearl barely managed to avoid crashing into the Quartz, and she peered around her companion to try and see what had halted her.

Her insides lurched, and she had just enough time to move away from Amethyst before everything she’d eaten came up the way it had entered. She’d been told about vomiting before this, but actually experiencing it was more horrible than she’d imagined. The taste and smell of the first purge were enough to send her over the edge a second time.

And a third.

“Yeah…I feel ya, Lemonhead.” Amethyst knelt next to Connie to check her over, setting the gems she was holding on the ground beside her while she worked.

Yellow tried not to watch too closely - the last thing she wanted was to vomit a fourth time. She may not know much about organic life, but she knew enough to know what blood was and that it shouldn’t be everywhere, and she had seen Connie enough times to know that parts of her body were not where they were supposed to be, and other parts weren’t shaped the way they were supposed to be. She’s sustained more than enough damage to release her physical form, had she been a gem. How did humans survive this long if they couldn’t even regenerate?

“She’s alive, but we don’t have much time. We need to get her to the fountain. You can be careful and steady, right?” Amethyst stood and melted into light, her body reforming a moment later into…was that a wheeled bed?

“O-of course.” Yellow glanced uncertainly from the Quartz to the human. Was she really suggesting—no, organic lives were fragile. She had to do this now and react later. She set all the inert gems on the bed and then - as carefully as she could - she lifted Connie to the bed, cringing at the almost sticky wetness that clung to her and the choked groan that came from the girl.

“We got ya, Connie. You’ll be fine.” Amethyst sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than the girl. “Hop aboard, Yellow. I need you to make sure no one falls.”

This was completely absurd, but the yellow gem nodded, knowing better than to question her superiors. She knelt on the bed beside Connie, gathering the other gems between her body and the girl’s to keep them secure and doing her best not to look at the other’s injuries. She wasn’t sure where they were going and she still didn’t know what “the fountain” was, but she knew Steven would be beyond upset if they didn’t help his friend. Questions could come later.

Then Amethyst sped off, hurtling them all toward the nearest warp pad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The corrupted gems probably aren't loyal at all, but I'm sure they're terrified.
> 
> Jasper's an odd case. I don't know how I feel about her or what her motives are. I just let her act as needed when she shows up.
> 
> Poor Connie and Ruby, but they're in good hands.


	4. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gems visit the fountain and plans are made.

It turned out there was a warp directly to the fountain. Of course there was. From what Amethyst had told her, the water contained in the fountain had healing properties, meaning it could fix everything wrong with both Connie and Ruby if they could get the two submerged in time.

Amethyst wasted no time. Before the light even faded, she was wheeling them straight toward…was that a statue of Rose Quartz? …Of course - she’d been famous for her healing tears back during the war. A healing fountain would be made in her likeness.

Another glow appeared beside her, and the Sapphire lifted into the air. If Amethyst noticed the gem reforming, she didn’t show it - she continued on her path to the fountain.

“Wait - stop!”

Amethyst halted right at the edge of the water. Yellow slid off the purple gem and turned to face the small blue form that was rushing toward them.

“You can’t put her in like that,” Sapphire explained once she’d caught up. “If Connie’s leg heals the way it is right now, she’ll never be able to use it properly again, and she’ll likely lose it.”

Yellow looked from Sapphire to Connie as the blue gem spoke. So they couldn’t heal her? What other option was there? What would Steven think if they let her succumb to her injuries?

“What do we do, then?” Amethyst mirrored Yellow’s thoughts. “We can’t just let her die!”

“Here.” Sapphire approached the girl, cringing at the state of her. “I’ll make this quick. Brace yourself, Connie.”

Yellow hurriedly scooped up the inert gems and placed them into the fountain - mostly to give herself an excuse to look away. She didn’t need to watch what Sapphire was doing - it was bound to make her sick again.

She’d expected a scream. Maybe she didn’t want to watch Sapphire work, but she had an idea of what the blue gem was doing. Connie did make a noise, but it was more of a whimper or whine than anything else. Maybe she was too far gone for anything else?

“It’s okay. You’re going to be okay,” Sapphire murmured soothingly to the girl. “Every branch of the future shows your recovery. Just endure another moment or two…”

Another whine, and then silence. Yellow shuddered, happier than ever that she’d been created as a gem. Being able to retreat into her gemstone when badly injured seemed highly preferable to all the pain and the risk of permanent injury Connie was facing.

Sapphire sighed. “That’s all I can do. It should be enough. Yellow? Help me.”

Yellow suppressed another shudder. “Right.” She turned around, grimacing at Connie’s condition. Her leg did look much better, though it was noticeably bloodier and Connie was barely breathing. They’d have to hurry.

Working together, Yellow and Sapphire carried Connie into the fountain and set her down. Sapphire supported the girl’s shoulders, keeping her head above water. Right…humans had to breathe air, didn’t they?

Everything was still and quiet for a few agonizing moments. Yellow knelt in the fountain, letting it clean off some of the blood that had stuck to her form. She’d have to give herself an actual, thorough cleaning later.

A loud, piercing scream broke through the quiet. Yellow jumped and turned toward Connie. She was being supported solely by Amethyst now - Sapphire was a short distance away clutching Ruby’s gem and seemingly ignoring everything else.

“Better?” Amethyst was smiling and her tone was casual, but both her expression and her voice were strained.

“Yeah, actually.” Connie let out a shaky laugh and looked around. “Where’s everyone else?”

Amethyst gestured to the water. “There’s most of us.”

The girl frowned. “Steven?”

Amethyst grimaced. “Haven’t seen him since my own poofing.”

“He’ll be fine,” Sapphire added quickly. “I foresee several possible futures where he returns to us safely.”

Connie turned to the blue gem. “Any possible futures where he doesn’t?”

Sapphire’s silence was answer enough to that question. Connie shuddered visibly and squeezed her eyes shut, taking several deep breaths.

“It’ll be fine.” Amethyst once again sounded like she was trying to reassure herself more than anyone else. “Lapis is missing, too, so she’s probably with him.”

“Lapis is completely devoted to him,” Sapphire agreed. “I have no doubt that she will protect him as long as she’s able.”

Connie gave a vague nod and tried standing, only to promptly fall back into the water. Amethyst helped her to her feet and walked her to the edge of the fountain.

“Thanks…” Connie hoisted herself onto the edge and stretched out a leg - the one that had been badly broken - to examine it. “How’s everyone else doing?”

“Ruby was the worst off…” Amethyst turned to Sapphire. “If she’s fine then everyone else probably is too, right?”

Sapphire nodded. “Ruby will be fine. Everyone else is fine.”

“Then we shouldn’t waste any more time!” Connie rose to her feet and walked - well, wobbled - toward the warp pad.

“Hold up!” Amethyst scooped up the other inert gems and climbed out of the fountain. She then hurried to Connie’s side and wrapped an arm around the girl. “Here, lean on me.”

Connie did as Amethyst suggested, and the purple gem helped the girl toward the warp pad.

“We’ll all warp home for now,” Sapphire decided, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear.

Connie stopped and turned toward the blue gem. “But Steven and Lapis—”

“We need to get you back home so you can rest.” Sapphire pulled herself out of the fountain, prompting Yellow to follow suit. “Your mother’s a doctor - she should check your injuries just in case.”

Connie frowned. “But—”

“Butts are for sitting, C.” Amethyst grinned at the girl. “Sapphire’s right - you’re too unsteady on your feet to be anywhere near Jasper. Don’t worry - me and Sapphire and Yellow got this.”

“All right…” Connie nodded, though she didn’t look happy about the situation. “Have Steven give me a call when you find him? Or have someone come get me if I’m needed?”

“Of course.” Sapphire gave her a slight smile and moved ahead of the group, leading the way to the warp pad. “Let’s go - we need to get Connie home, and then we need to plan…”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“This isn’t going to work.” Yellow paced beside the table, trying her best not to look too hard at the basket sitting on top of it. Most of the Crystal Gems rested - inert but unharmed - on a small cloth inside, each in the process of altering their forms. It was a reminder that most of her protectors were utterly defenseless, and that two were still missing.

Not that Lapis would ever put her gem on the line for Yellow, but she was among the most powerful gems on this planet, so her absence was still more than noticed.

“It won’t as long as you keep insisting it won’t.” Amethyst moved her arms off the back of the sofa just long enough to shrug at her before resuming her far-too-comfortable sprawl along two thirds of the thing. It was amazing how much room the small Quartz could take up. What she lacked in presence she made up with…well…presence.

“It will work.” Sapphire didn’t look up from the Ruby clutched in her hands.

The blue gem was sitting on what little of the sofa Amethyst wasn’t covering, practically curled around the inert red gem. She’d been like that since they’d returned to the temple, though Yellow supposed she couldn’t blame her. She’d never known love like that for herself - Pearls weren’t allowed to have those feelings for anyone other than their masters, and it was almost never mutual - but she had seen it in others, and knew such bonds tended to be stronger than nearly anything.

Yellow continued her pacing, crossing her arms over her chest. “I can’t learn to be an expert fighter in a matter of hours like you’re wanting! I’m a Pearl - we’re not built for this!”

“Pearl does pretty okay,” Amethyst pointed out. “Blue’s learned a lot, too. You could do it if you tried.”

“You’re going to be fine,” Sapphire added. “We all learn eventually, and you’re not expected to learn within hours. Recent events have just made it necessary to start your training now rather than later.”

“What about Steven and Lapis?” Yellow argued. “We’re leaving them to Jasper’s devices while we focus on training, right?”

“Most possible futures point to this being the fastest option for their rescue,” Sapphire answered. “We need to wait at least long enough for the first few of us to regenerate, if we want any chance of winning. Training you - at least in the basics - in that time will drastically increase our chances. Steven and Lapis are strong - they can handle themselves until we get to them. Besides,” she turned to look straight at Yellow, “we’ll be able to rescue them faster the less time we spend arguing about it.”

Yellow grimaced and stopped pacing. This situation was beyond impossible! She was a Pearl - she shouldn’t even be learning to fight at all! But she had promised that she could be of use if they’d spare her, and they had discussed her training before now. Not only that, Steven was the most likely one to protect her if Yellow Diamond ever came to Earth. She needed him, so if learning to fight so she could contribute to his rescue was the only way…

“Amethyst will oversee your training,” Sapphire stated.

“Me?” Amethyst turned to the blue gem. “I mean, sure, if you want, but you’re the boss here. Shouldn’t you be the one to train the newbie?”

“You are the better choice in this circumstance,” Sapphire responded. “Even if that weren’t true, I need to stay here and figure out how best to influence the future. …And I don’t have a summoned weapon.”

“Yeah, but Ru—never mind.” Amethyst shook her head. “All right, Yellow, ya ready?”

“No.” Yellow made her way to the warp pad. “We’re doing this elsewhere, right? Let’s just get it over with.”

“You’ll do great,” Sapphire tried to assure her. It didn’t work, but Yellow nodded in appreciation, anyway.

“We won’t be long.” Amethyst stood and walked to the warp pad, turning back to Sapphire as she reached it. “She’s gonna be okay.”

Sapphire gave her a small smile. “I know. It’s only a matter of time before Ruby reforms and we bring Garnet back…” She gazed down at the red gem in her hands. “I’ll just miss her until it happens.”

Amethyst grinned. “When they’re all back, we’ll throw a big party.”

Sapphire stared at her. “We just had one of those last week.”

Amethyst shrugged. “So we’ll throw another. Yellow hasn’t had one yet.” She waved and activated the warp pad, starting them on the journey to…

…Hmmm…

“Where are we going, anyway?”

Amethyst grinned. “The arena. It’s the best place for this kind of thing.”

An arena. Of course. She nodded and stared up, as though that would let her see her destination. Well, it was something to do, at least.

However, she couldn’t help but feel that they were both being lead toward disappointment. Sapphire had said something about a summoned weapon, but that was a thing Yellow knew she didn’t have. Pearls just weren’t meant for fighting - no amount of insisting on this seemed to do any good, but it was true. Their Pearl was a special case, but no one seemed to realize that. Yellow didn’t know what Pearl or her owner did to allow her that particular ability, and she was near certain she’d never find out.

And meanwhile, who knew what was happening to Steven? From what she’d been told, Jasper had become…slightly unstable since being stranded on Earth, and the platoon of Rubies that Yellow Diamond sent to retrieve her were no longer able to fulfill their mission. Who knew what she was capable of or what she was wanting, anymore?

Well…unstable or not, facing a Jasper was better than facing a Diamond with all her elites. Yellow shuddered and silently thanked the stars for allowing her escape. She was alive. She would continue being alive. Wasn’t that part of why she was being taught how to fight? To defend herself?

She was sure she wasn’t going to get this lesson - she was woefully incapable of combat and always would be - but she would do her best. She supposed she owed the Crystal Gems that much.

She certainly owed Steven that much.

“Yo! Earth to Yellow!”

The Pearl started at Amethyst’s voice. “Y-yes?”

“You doin’ okay?” The purple gem was staring at her a little too intently. “You kinda spaced out there.”

“Sorry.” Yellow lowered her gaze. “I’m fine. Just worried.”

“I get that.” Amethyst responded as the light faded. “Come on, it’s gonna be fine.”

Yellow followed the purple Quartz up two sets of steps and through the doorway into the remains of an airborne arena. It looked nothing like the arenas she remembered from before the war, though she knew it must have resembled them in its prime. The statues of the Diamonds still stood strong - well, some of them - and there was at least enough floorspace for a few gems to spar on. It was weird for her to think that the Crystal Gems would willingly keep a place like this around, but she supposed it was good for fighting practice when they didn’t want to do anything to harm the planet.

“All right.” Amethyst walked a short distance across the arena and turned to Yellow. “What do you know about weapon summoning?”

“Practically nothing,” Yellow responded.

“Nothing? So you’ve never even seen another gem manage it?” Amethyst questioned.

“I just followed orders,” Yellow responded.

Amethyst nodded. “Yeah, but I always thought the Diamonds participated in the fighting.”

“Sometimes they do,” Yellow answered. “At least, Yellow Diamond does, but there’s no point in her using a weapon when she can just zap someone to destroy her physical form.”

Amethyst grimaced, and - for a moment - Yellow wondered if she’d said too much. The Crystal Gems would need to know how the Diamonds fought at some point, though, wouldn’t they? Maybe it was for the best.

“That’s fair.” Amethyst stretched her arms behind her head, and then looked around. “This really would be better with Pearl around. She’s always been the best teacher out of all of us. Nothin’ we can do about that, so here goes nothin’.”

Amethyst closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate. Her gem glowed and the handle of her whip seemed to grow out of it. She grabbed the handle and pulled the whip free of her gem, using it to break a nearby chunk of pillar into two distinct pieces.

Yellow took a few steps back at the display. She’d been with the Crystal Gems long enough to trust them not to hurt her - as long as she was well-behaved, at least - but being so close to a gem with a weapon was still more than a little uncomfortable.

“I can summon my weapon whenever I happen to need it,” Amethyst explained as the whip disappeared. “It’s different for everybody, but that’s my style. Garnet has some mystical universe thing - I dunno and don’t ask her, it’s really complicated. Pearl will give you a speech about the dance of leaves or something. Steven summons his by tapping into his emotions. Just a few examples.”

Amethyst hopped onto the broken pillar and sat down, looking way more comfortable than should be possible. “So the first thing we need to do is figure out your style. Basic need, cosmic energy, the rhythm of the world, emotion… What is it that drives Yellow to act?”

“Nothing,” Yellow stated. She was uncomfortably aware that she was being less than helpful, but it was the truth. “I just follow orders.”

“All right.” Amethyst crossed her arms over her chest. “I order you to summon your weapon.”

Yellow gawked at the purple gem. Was she being serious? She looked it - for once - so the Pearl closed her eyes and concentrated. How would this even feel? She’d stored things in her gem a time or two for her Diamond. Maybe it was like that?

She continued concentrating, trying to picture…something - what would she even have? - emerging from her gem and solidifying.

Nothing. She opened her eyes and turned to Amethyst, expecting her to be angry. She didn’t look it, though. If anything, she looked amused.

“Whelp, guess you’re not as blindly obedient as you thought.” Amethyst shrugged and hopped down from the pillar. “Guess we’ll have to figure somethin’ else out.”

Yellow sighed. “Sorry.”

Amethyst frowned at her. “What for? Having your own mind and will’s a good thing. We just need to figure out what’s gonna motivate your magic the most.”

“I still think were wasting our time,” Yellow muttered.

“We are if you keep up with that attitude,” the purple gem replied. “Come on - help me think. Taking out the whole stupid Pearls-must-always-follow-orders thing, what gets you to do the things you do?”

“I don’t know,” Yellow responded. “I’ve followed orders all my life. I don’t have any other motivations!”

“If that were true, you wouldn’t be here right now,” Amethyst pointed out. “You weren’t ordered to come to Earth.”

“No, but I had to.” Yellow shuddered. “If Yellow Diamond ever sees me again, she’ll shatter me for sure!”

“Yeah, you’ve said—” Amethyst trailed off, a thoughtful expression crossing her features. “I have an idea. Wait here a moment.”

“A-all right.” Yellow watched the purple Quartz leave, frowning after her. Where was she going? What was her idea? They really couldn’t linger longer than was absolutely necessary, could they?

Yellow waited, her frown increasing when a few minutes passed without any sign of the purple gem. She looked around, straining all her senses to try to pick up something to indicate Amethyst’s presence. Everything was perfectly quiet and still…

And then it wasn’t. A shadow loomed over her, and that was all the warning she got before something large and spiky rushed toward her.

Yellow shrieked and ducked behind the ruined pillar just in time to avoid her gem being crushed. She headed for the stands from there - maybe the thing attacking her would be slowed down over there? Maybe she could even reach the warp pad! She couldn’t stay in the arena itself - there was nowhere to hide!

The thing kept pace just behind her until she neared the arena’s exit. Then it leaped over her and spun around, roaring in her face and forcing her to change directions.

Yellow continued running - like she could do anything else - until she found herself at the edge of the arena, staring down at the world below. She could hear - and feel - the footsteps of the monster right behind her, and she turned just as it closed the distance between them.

There was nowhere left to run. The thing was easily big and fast enough to cut off her escape in either direction, and the fall would leave her shattered for sure. The monster towered over her, its arms lifted in preparation for attack.

Yellow closed her eyes. This was it. She’d bought herself a week more of life, at least. It was a weird life on a primitive planet with a bunch of outcasts, but that was better than being shattered immediately, right? She should be grateful for the extra time and accept this.

But…she couldn’t. She wasn’t done - she couldn’t be done! Not yet! She’d come all this way just to survive. She couldn’t give up now! As she thought that, she felt an odd weight on her chest, along with the light heat that usually accompanied her gem glowing.

 _Is that…?_ She opened her eyes and instinctively grabbed the…whatever-it-was that was growing from her gem. She couldn’t tell what she was pulling free from herself at first, but it was long and flexible and the weight in her hand felt right in a way that nothing else had since Yellow Diamond threatened to shatter her.

So, she had her weapon…and no idea how to use it. But she didn’t need to be an expert to do damage, right? The thing in her hand was little more than a chain, but there were weights on each end that could probably do some damage…

Yellow swung the chain, trying to mimic Amethyst’s movements with her whip. The weight on the other end of the chain nearly caught the monster in the eye, but it reached up at the last second and caught it.

Then the monster melted into light, and a cackling Amethyst joined her on the edge of the arena a moment later.

“Wow, Yellow! Nicely done!”

_Wait…_

“That was you.” Yellow’s eyes narrowed at the purple gem. “That was you the entire time.”

Amethyst gave her a wide grin. “Yep! Oh man, you should have seen your face! But you did it! I’m proud of ya, Yellow!”

“That was you the whole time.” Yellow’s body tensed, fury slowly rising to the surface. “I was never in actual danger.”

“Nope!” Amethyst sat down and let go of the weapon. “Sorry, but I had to. You needed to think you were about to die for my plan to work.”

Yellow dropped the weapon - it was that or attack the purple gem, and that was a terrible idea - and it shattered into nothing. “I could have jumped, instead.”

“I woulda caught ya,” Amethyst assured her. “You’d be fine. Besides, you didn’t. You tried to fight back, and now we know that you do actually have something in there! So, how do ya feel?”

Yellow opened her mouth to speak, and then thought better of it and closed it again. Amethyst might be casual, but she was still a Quartz gem, and it still felt wrong to be casual back.

“It’s okay if you’re upset,” Amethyst guessed after a moment of Yellow not saying anything. “I’d probably be too in your shoes. Still, we know how to get you to summon your weapon, now.”

“That won’t work a second time,” Yellow pointed out. “Next time, I’ll know it’s you.”

Amethyst shrugged. “Doesn’t need to - I have you figured out. Yellow, your motivation is self-preservation! Running from Homeworld, tolerating our antics even when it’s clear they’re grating on you, your anxiety at being alone in the house… Even the things you said when we found you in Steven’ room - you’ve been trying to keep your gem intact this whole time!” She slapped her own forehead. “I’m an idiot for not figuring it out sooner. But now we know, right? And now I know why Sapphire wanted me to be your mentor. She musta foreseen your weapon!”

“She could have told me it was a chain,” Yellow commented dryly.

Amethyst cackled. “What you have is much more than a chain!” She gestured toward the middle of the arena. “Come on. We’ll practice summoning your weapon at will until you get it, and then I’ll teach you some of my favorite moves.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be fair to Yellow, she was panicking a bit, and that tends to make you a bit less observant than you should be. I'm sure you guys had it figured out immediately, though.
> 
> So here's the non-canon weapon because I needed one. I picked the manriki-gusari for Yellow because I see stealth and flexibility being her biggest advantages (even if she is a very non-ninja shade of yellow...). The weapon can be used to directly attack, but it can also disarm an opponent, or trip them up, allowing the user to get away. Anyway, I don't subscribe to the "all Pearls have spears" theory, and I'm trying to make sure we have a good variety of weapons to work with in the team.
> 
> Let me tell you, though - the weapon sure makes for some awkward sentences. Ah well. Too late now. XD


	5. Assurance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yellow's training's been going well. Maybe it's enough?

Movement to her left. She ducked and rolled, narrowly escaping the whip.

More movement to the right. Connie with her sword. Yellow kept low and summoned her weapon, thoughts of survival filling her as she grabbed one end and flung the other toward the girl. The chain wrapped around her sword, and Yellow yanked, disarming her opponent.

Then there was noise behind her, and she had to jump aside to get away from Amethyst’s spin-dash. She looked around, trying to track the locations of both opponents. That was easy enough - they seemed set on trying to flank her, so if one was in one direction, the other was usually in the opposite.

Amethyst yelled and charged at her. Yellow waited for the right moment and flung her weapon at the purple gem’ legs. The chain entangled itself around her legs, and Amethyst fell.

She looked behind her in time to catch the glint of the sun reflecting off a sword - Connie had recovered her weapon. Yellow summoned another manriki-gusari from her gem and lunged, whipping one of the weights toward the other girl’s shoulder - she’d been instructed to avoid her legs for now. Connie dodged to the side, but stumbled on her bad leg, giving Yellow the opening she needed to escape. She charged toward the girl, jumping over her and running a short distance away from both opponents.

So…that put them both in the same direction. Maybe she could gain the upper hand now? She scanned the arena ahead of her, searching for a good spot to ambush the other two.

 _There!_ She ran for the remains of an ancient pillar and hid behind it, thanking the stars that Pearls were designed with slim frames. She may not be in actual danger here, but she’d need every advantage she could get in a real fight.

 _A real fight…_ Yellow shuddered and shook her head. She was not - and never would be - ready to handle an actual battle. These training sessions were meant to resemble a real fight, but she was up against allies and knew she was safe. That made it much easier to focus and strategize. When it came time to really fight…

 _You’ll be ready._ Garnet’s words flowed through her mind - the reassurance she’d been given the other day after voicing her concerns.

The fusion had reformed a few days ago - moments after Ruby emerged from her gem. The red gem had seemed no worse for wear since being dropped into the fountain’s healing waters, and Garnet had no trouble reforming. In fact, it looked a little too easy. The two hadn’t even needed to dance - they’d just hugged and made out in an embarrassing display that Yellow couldn’t bring herself to watch.

Footsteps from the other side of the pillar brought Yellow back to the present. She waited for them to get close, determining them to belong to Amethyst - they were too heavy and evenly paced to belong to Connie. It worried her that she couldn’t hear the human at all, but she’d dwell on that later. For now, she waited until her opponent was just the right distance away.

Once Amethyst neared the pillar, Yellow dove away from it, keeping her movements random to make herself a difficult target. She summoned her weapon and flung it at the purple Quartz’s feet.

Amethyst tried to jump over the manriki-gusari, but one foot didn’t quite make it over the chain. She tripped, landing solidly on her stomach, and Yellow rushed over before her opponent could get to her feet. Then she stepped on her opponent’s back, summoned another copy of her weapon, and held the chain against Amethyst’s throat.

Amethyst cackled - a slightly strangled sound. “Wow, Yellow. That was great!”

“You held back,” Yellow pointed out coolly, releasing her weapon and taking a few steps back. She looked around, frowning. A certain someone was still missing… “What happened to Connie?”

“She’s probably restin’.” Amethyst jumped to her feet and stretched.

Yellow nodded and started back toward the stands. “Leg still bothering her?”

“Yeah.” Amethyst followed her. “She’s doin’ better with it, but it didn’t heal properly. Either we didn’t set it perfectly before we got her healed up or the bone shifted in transit.”

Yellow winced. “Is it permanent?”

She really shouldn’t care. Connie was a human, after all. They were organic life forms with pitifully short lifespans. Connie had grown on her, though. The girl was exceedingly brave, especially for a creature that couldn’t poof and reform. She was friendly, though not afraid to call someone out if they did something wrong. She was also clever, and seemed completely comfortable in the presence of gems and magic. And…well…it did help that she was relatively new - she had yet to even reach her second decade of life. That meant she had most of her lifespan ahead of her…as long as she didn’t die in battle. The point was that Yellow was fond of her despite everything, and whether she wanted to be or not.

“Connie thinks she’ll be better once she gets used to it and exercises it a bit,” Amethyst responded. “We won’t really know for a while, though.”

Yellow sighed. “I hope it goes well for her.”

Amethyst moved forward to walk at Yellow’s side. “For what it’s worth, she doesn’t blame us. She knows we had to act in a hurry to save her life. She was in pretty rough shape.”

Yellow shuddered. “I remember.”

Amethyst nodded. “It’s gonna be okay. Humans are tougher than they seem.”

“How do they do it?” Yellow asked, trying to think back on Connie’s injuries without getting sick. “Tough or not, they’re still weaker than gems, and they don’t recover as easily if they get hurt. How do they willingly put themselves in danger, knowing they could cause themselves permanent damage?”

“Not everyone can,” Amethyst answered. “Those that do usually do it because they’ve found something they value more than themselves, so being maimed or killed is worth it. I know Connie fights for the safety of her planet and family, but I can’t speak for anyone else.”

Yellow nodded. “I see…” She couldn’t think of anything that’d be worth that to her, but she supposed it was an admirable enough trait.

The conversation died there. It was just as well - they were making their way between the stands toward the exit at that point. Connie was waiting for them halfway up the stands, and she managed to match their pace all the way to the warp pad.

The trio warped home in silence, but things didn’t stay that way. As soon as the light faded, Yellow could see Peridot - newly reformed, since she’d still been inert when they started the day’s training - at the door, talking to…was that Blue’s human? Garnet was sitting on the sofa, watching them - Yellow couldn’t see her expression from here.

“It’s just awful!” Jamie sounded devastated - like she’d expect Steven to sound if someone told him the world had run out of donuts. “She was so young and she’d just gained her freedom, and now…” He let out a stuttered sigh and cradled something to his chest. “I never even got to ask her on a date…”

“She’s thousands of years older than you,” Peridot pointed out.

“Blue will be fine.” Garnet sounded almost amused. “Only her body was destroyed. As long as her gem is undamaged, she’ll come back.”

Jamie turned to her, peering at the red gem through tear-streaked eyes. “But when? It’s been almost a week! Several days of hoping and praying and coming here to find nothing more than a lonely mailbox on an empty beach…”

Jamie held his hand up as he spoke, and now Yellow could see that he was holding Blue’s gem. Was that wise? Not that she cared, and no one else seemed to either…she supposed he could keep on holding her as long as he wanted.

“Blue will return to us when she’s ready,” Garnet stated. “Only she can determine when that may be.”

Amethyst approached the others. “Besides, humans don’t recover from being ripped in half in a week, do they? It shouldn’t be that surprising.”

Peridot turned to the purple gem as Jamie let out a distressed wail. “That really doesn’t help us, Amethyst.”

“Eh.” Amethyst shrugged. “I tried.”

It took several minutes of the other gems and Connie trying to soothe the man before he finally calmed down enough to talk again. Yellow kept back, watching the human warily. Her counterpart had some strange tastes when it came to company…

“So she’s really coming back?” Jamie wiped at his eyes. “She’s not gone forever?”

“Right,” Peridot confirmed.

“But we don’t know when she’ll be back…” Jamie stared at the gem in his hands. “Is there any way at all to tell?”

“Nope, but we’ll let you know as soon as it happens,” Amethyst assured him.

Jamie drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes before releasing it, clutching the gem tighter against his chest. “Okay…”

Garnet stood and approached the man, briefly placing a hand on his shoulder. Then she turned away, heading toward the warp pad. “Gems, let’s go. This is our best chance to find Steven and Lapis.”

Jamie’s eyes widened, and the tears started flowing again. “Steven’s missing?”

“Yeah…for a week,” Peridot replied as she headed to the warp pad. “You come here every day. How did you not notice this?”

“Well, I haven’t seen Greg in about that long, either…” Jamie responded. “I figured they were on vacation or something!”

Ah, Steven’s dad. Yellow had forgotten about Greg. The man disappeared the night he was told about his son being missing. His van was also gone, and Sapphire had been of the opinion that he was out searching for Steven.

She was also of the opinion that he would never find him on his own, but they let Greg look anyway. It would have been hard on him to wait for them.

“He’s going to be fine, too,” Garnet assured the man with a wave as Amethyst returned to the warp pad. “Take care of Blue and Pearl for us - we’ll be back before midnight.”

“A-all right…” Jamie moved unsteadily toward the sofa and sat down, still holding Blue’s gem.

“Yellow, you’re coming too,” Garnet ordered.

 _Already?_ But orders were orders. Yellow hurried back to the warp pad, joining everyone else atop it and trying to keep the panic that was starting to built in check.

This was it.

“Not this time, Connie.”

Connie had followed Yellow and was about to step on the warp pad. She halted at Garnet’s command and stared up at her. “But—”

“You are still recovering,” Garnet interrupted. “For now, you should stay here. Steven will want to know you’re safe and waiting for him.”

Connie looked like she still wanted to protest, but - after a moment - she sighed and nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

Garnet smiled at her. “I’m sure Jamie could use the company.” She waved in farewell, and light surrounded the gems.

“You know where we’re headed, G?” Amethyst asked as they warped away.

Garnet nodded. “There is only one possibility. Just be careful when we get there. A fight is all but inevitable.”

The other gems nodded at Garnet’s words, accepting the mission. Of course there’d be a fight. If Jasper had Steven and Lapis as captives, she’d definitely do her best to keep them from escaping. And if not…she’d at least be around searching for them just like the Crystal Gems were. No matter what had happened to them, there was one sure outcome…

…And Yellow was the farthest thing from ready for it.

The light faded, and Yellow stared out at the endless expanse of strawberry plants in front of her. The last time she’d been here…well…

This wouldn’t be like last time.

Garnet stepped off the warp pad, and the other gems followed. Yellow kept to the back of the group, her gaze constantly moving across the fields. It felt like something was going to jump out of the bushes and attack at any moment, and the last thing she wanted was to be caught off-guard.

“Kinda hard to believe we were just here fighting a battle last week,” Amethyst commented as they walked.

“I don’t know,” Peridot responded. “The strawberries can conceal most of the evidence.”

“True.” The purple gem turned to the fusion. “So, we gotta fight Jasper before we can retrieve our friends, right? How do we find her?”

“We don’t have to find Jasper.” As Garnet spoke, a shadow fell over the group. Yellow turned to see a certain orange Quartz riding a…

…Well…she couldn’t identify that thing. Or the countless other things behind Jasper.

Garnet stretched out her arms and summoned her gauntlets, prompting everyone else to summon their weapons as well.

“She’ll find us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Connie, I am so sorry. Unfortunately, the story demanded it.
> 
> I actually like Jamie, but he is something of a drama queen. ...Actually, he's exactly a drama queen.
> 
> Blue Pearl tends to take over my stories. I like her and don't mind, but I think her extended break from reality is probably a good thing for me. ^.^; And Pearl's also unavailable, so...


	6. Teamwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yellow enters her first real battle.

As soon as Garnet finished speaking, Jasper jumped down from the monster’s back and charged. Garnet ran forward to meet her just as the rest of the monster army advanced.

This was it. Yellow swallowed down the lump forming in her throat and took a few steps back as Amethyst and Peridot charged ahead, each taking on one of the monsters themselves. More were coming - more than she could count with this much movement. She summoned her weapon and studied the monsters, trying to figure out which might be the easiest opponent.

Out of time. Two of the beasts approached her - one resembling Jasper’s apparent favorite - some sort of gigantic cross between a wolf and a tiger - and the other looking more like a solid flame with legs than anything that might normally be found on the planet. Yellow looked between them, backing up several more steps as they advanced.

Then both creatures broke out into a run. All pretense of bravery left Yellow then, and she turned and ran, looking for a place to hide. There had to be something - this area was full of giant plants, so some of these bushes had to be large enough to conceal her form, right?

Someone yelled in the distance. Amethyst? Guilt twinged through her, but she didn’t stop. The monsters were faster than her, and slowly gaining. She needed to find a hiding place, and she needed to do it now!

Unfortunately, the monsters seemed to be even faster than she thought. The wolf-tiger leaped over her, cutting off her escape. The flame-shaped monster caught up to her in the time it took her to stop and seek an alternate path.

It looked like she was fighting, after all. Yellow looked between the two monsters, wondering who to attack first and what move would be best. She wanted to do this right, and that meant figuring out the best move quickly.

“Yo, Yellow!” Amethyst ran up to join her, cracking her whip at the wolf-tiger. The whip smashed against the monster’s face, poofing it, and she hurried to collect the gem that fell from the dissipated form. “Why haven’t you taken these guys out yet?”

“I…” Yellow winced, wondering how caught she was and how much trouble she was in.

“Come on, girl, you got this!” Amethyst spun around and spin-dashed into the flame-shaped monster, poofing it as well. Just in time, too - several more were on their way.

“But I don’t!” Yellow protested, jumping back just barely in time to avoid an ice blast from one of the new monsters. “I can’t do this! This goes so far against my purpose!”

Amethyst rolled toward her and uncurled into her usual form. She summoned a whip for each hand and faced down the army. “You’re thinkin’ too hard. Just fight right now - you can worry about the details later.”

Amethyst charged toward the nearest monster - some red and orange thing with multiple pairs of legs. Yellow opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it again. Their numbers were few compared to the enemy, so of course they were spread thin here.

Yellow bit her lip and turned to the nearest of the corrupted gems - a vaguely bird-shaped monster that was a dark shade of not-quite-black she couldn’t identify. Natural fighter or not, her protectors did need her now, and she’d promised to be useful. She couldn’t just run out on them, could she?

Well, she could…but now she’d feel bad about it. Earth had a way of ruining gems like this…

 _Don’t think, just fight_ , she reminded herself as she studied her opponent. Amethyst made it sound so easy…but of course she did. She was a Quartz, and this kind of thing came naturally to her.

Still…the renegade Pearl could fight, as could the Sapphire half of Garnet. Right now, even Peridot seemed to be holding her own. At least, she could hear the green gem screaming something at something some distance away. Then there was Connie, who’d become horrifically injured last time but still wanted to take part in this. Maybe this wasn’t so impossible for Yellow, after all.

A loud, piercing screech momentarily deafened her, and Yellow had to jump to the side to avoid two sets of long, sharp talons. She jumped to her feet and tensed, watching the monster circle around for a second attempt. Was this really that much different from fighting Amethyst? There was the real danger, yes, but the movements themselves had to be mostly the same…

The creature neared her, and she readied her weapon. She leaped onto its back as it flew past and wrapped the chain of the manriki-gusari around her opponent’s neck. Then, holding on to both weights, she pulled.

Yellow wasn’t a particularly strong gem. Pearls rarely were. However, what little force she was able to muster seemed to have been enough. The gem beneath her poofed…

…Sending her and the newly-inert gem falling to the ground in a heap.

Biting back a rather undignified grunt, Yellow climbed to her feet and dusted herself off. A deep brown-red gem rested on the ground beside her, and she picked it up to store in her gem for the time being - she’d offer it to Garnet later. Then she looked around, a smile slowly forming on her face.

It was time to meet her next opponent.

As it turned out, Amethyst was right. The less she thought about what she was doing, the calmer she could keep herself. That meant it was easier to remember her training and thus easier to avoid a mistake. Not that she didn’t make any - a deep purple blob-like creature had coated her in slime that made movement difficult, and she’d needed Peridot’s help to free herself from the mess - but there was a decent chance she would have been overwhelmed and poofed or shattered by now.

The sheer amount of monsters had kept her busy until the sun was low in the sky. At that point, she noticed the army was starting to thin out. There was actually time and space to stop and consider her next move, and she could locate the Crystal Gems and see how they were doing. Peridot seemed to be wearing down - she wasn’t yelling anymore - but Amethyst was still going strong, and she could see Garnet and Jasper still fighting far away from everyone else.

Unfortunately, they were too far away to see who was gaining the upper hand.

Yellow had just landed a good hit on the ice-spewing monster and collected its gem when she noticed Amethyst approaching. Yellow stored the gem for now and turned to the purple gem - was something wrong?

“We’re beating ‘em!” Amethyst cheered. “Man, we could have used your help with this back when we still had everyone!’

Yellow looked around. There were even fewer monsters now - the remaining ones were fleeing. She could see Peridot chasing something that looked almost like a giant version of the crystal lizards Lion sometimes brought home to eat. “How did you all lose? It seems like you should have done better with more gems on our side.”

“Well, there were a lot more of them last time.” Amethyst shrugged. “I think Jasper lost some between then and now. I know we didn’t poof that many before we got overwhelmed. That’s not important now, though. Look - we’ll be able to help Garnet, soon!”

Yellow nodded. That did seem to be the case… Peridot had apparently poofed her target and now she was running toward them, the last of the monsters now far away and speeding in the opposite direction. Until they approached Jasper and Garnet, they were safe. They had all but won.

That fact really should make her happier than this, but now she just felt tired. Once they were done here, she wanted to find a quiet, isolated place to curl up and think for a while.

“All right, everyone okay?” Amethyst looked between Yellow and Peridot. Yellow nodded - she was pretty sure any and all damage to her form was minor, and her gem was as flawless as ever.

“I’m fine,” Peridot responded. “These battles are so much easier with my metal powers!”

“Glad to hear it.” Amethyst smiled at Peridot. “Garnet’s holding her own, but I don’t know how long we can count on that. Last time she had this fight, she won by throwing Jasper into the ship’s power source.”

Peridot shuddered. “I remember…”

Amethyst cackled. “Ah, right, I tend to forget you were there.”

“You tied me up with your whip,” Peridot pointed out.

“Yeah. Good times.” She winked at Peridot and gestured toward the fight. “Come on, before Jasper has a chance to win this thing.”

Amethyst ran toward the battling gems, and Peridot followed. Yellow took up the rear, part of her hoping the battle ended before they could get to it. Fighting the corrupted gems had been one thing - they certainly weren’t of sound mind, and so they were easy to outsmart - but Jasper was a powerhouse even by Quartz standards. Every part of her was screaming that taking her on was a bad idea.

They reached Garnet and Jasper just as the latter slammed the former into the ground. Amethyst acted first, tackling Jasper in an attempt to knock her off their leader.

That…didn’t work. And it didn’t work any better when she attempted to whip the orange Quartz. Jasper simply grabbed the whip and used it to fling Amethyst behind a nearby row of strawberry plants. Though it did seem to draw Jasper’s attention away from Garnet.

That would be good, if she wasn’t now focused on Yellow and Peridot.

The orange Quartz looked between the two smaller gems. “Is everyone turning traitor?”

“Jasper!” Garnet’s voice was cold - even angry - as she rose to her feet and threw a punch at her opponent.

That at least succeeded in getting Jasper’s attention off them. Yellow watched as the fusion and Quartz fought, debating on the best move to take here. Should she join in, or would that only get her flung away or shattered?

Peridot yelled and rushed at the two battlers, using her metal powers - powers she shouldn’t even have - to propel her sword toward their opponent.

Well, that decided them, didn’t it? Yellow waited for Jasper to focus on the sword and then darted around the fight, trying to get behind the orange Quartz. She managed just as Jasper caught the sword, and then flung her manriki-gusari at the Quartz’s feet.

It should have worked. Jasper was being attacked from three different directions. There was no way she could deflect them all at once, right? But she managed - spin-dashing to knock Garnet and both weapons away.

There was movement from one of the nearby bushes - Yellow couldn’t see around Jasper to figure out exactly what it was at first, but then there was no mistaking the pale lavender ball of hair that slammed into the orange Quartz. Then - before Jasper could recover - a sphere of water uncurled around Jasper’s middle, pinning her arms to her sides. The orange Quartz let out a frustrated roar and struggled against her captor, but she was kept immobile long enough for Peridot to recover her sword and stab their opponent through the chest.

Just like that, the battle was over. Jasper released her physical form, her gem fell, and the water rained down after.

Amethyst caught the orange Quartz before she could hit the ground and formed a bubble around her. The gem and bubble disappeared a moment later, sent off to the temple to be preserved and protected with the rest of the captured gems.

Yellow sank to the ground, her legs no longer able to hold her. This had been quite an evening, and she was more glad than she could say to be done with the worst of it.

“Good work, all of you.” Garnet looked around at the group, her eyes locking on Lapis as the blue gem emerged from behind a giant strawberry. “And welcome back.”

“Turns out she’s been nearby the whole time, and she knows where Steven is!” Amethyst grinned and wrapped an arm around Lapis’ shoulders, and the blue gem surprised Yellow by not shrugging her off and walking away.

In fact, she seemed to be leaning into it, and was noticeably trembling. And her color seemed…off. What had happened to her in the week Yellow had spent training?

“We should hurry.” Lapis wasn’t meeting anyone’s eyes. She clasped her arms with each hand, hunching in on herself. “That water was meant for Steven. He needs more. And food. And his bed. And he hasn’t been able to heal his injuries. I’ve been doing what I can, but I know next to nothing about human care and I—”

“Whoa, Bob, relax!” Amethyst interrupted. “He’s gonna be okay. Just lead the way and we’ll follow.”

“…Right. Okay.” Lapis took a moment to steady herself against the purple gem and then walked off between the bushes.

Garnet and Amethyst followed the blue gem. Peridot sprinted to catch up. Yellow followed the group, bracing herself for whatever they might find.

It couldn’t be worse than Connie, right?

Lapis led the other gems past several strawberry plants and around a massive hammer. Past this was a small crater, and beyond that was the edge of a cliff. Lapis stopped at the edge and crouched down, easing herself over the edge.

Weird…why wasn’t she using her wings?

Garnet hopped down the cliff - which was easily as tall as seven Jaspers. Yellow peered over the edge as Amethyst did the same, neither looking the worse for wear from what Yellow could tell in the dimming light.

 _How did they do that?_ Yellow turned to Peridot, who shrugged and started climbing down. Then, sighing to herself, Yellow also started the climb, hissing as a bad foothold nearly sent her plummeting the whole way down.

“You okay, Sunshine?” Amethyst called once Yellow regained her grip on the cliff.

“Fine.” Yellow sighed and continued downward, more carefully this time.

By some miracle, everyone made it to the ground below without another incident. Lapis had been pacing during Yellow’s and Peridot’s descent, but now she was leading the way at a brisk walk, and Yellow almost had to sprint to catch up with her.

“Is he close?” Peridot asked as they walked.

Lapis nodded. “It’ll just be a moment. We fell off the cliff and then sort of bounced into a cave. The entrance collapsed, but there was just enough space for me to squeeze through…” She shuddered. “I tried to move everything, but I’m not strong enough, so I’ve been coming out here for food and water until Steven regains his strength. Only…”

“He isn’t recovering as quickly as he needs to,” Garnet finished for her.

Lapis nodded, grimacing despite the gentle tone. “Yes. I didn’t know what to do. Until now, Jasper kept showing up to look for us. I couldn’t leave Steven alone to come find you - what if she found him first? She came close a few times…” She shivered and shook her head. “I kept hoping at least one of you would find me, and then we could free him together and get him home.”

Lapis’ explanation ended. Up ahead was where part of the cliff had crumbled, and Lapis crouched down beside the pile of fallen rocks and earth as soon as she reached it.

“Steven, it’s me,” Lapis called gently into the debris. “I’m not alone, but it’s all right - Jasper’s been dealt with. We’re going to get you out, okay?”

“Hey, Ste-man!” Amethyst peered into a space between two particularly large chunks of rock. “How’d you manage this mess?”

“Hello, Steven.” Garnet crouched down beside the purple gem. “Can you get somewhere safe?”

“Lapis! Amethyst! Garnet! You’re all okay!” Steven’s voice sounded a bit off in a way Yellow couldn’t identify, though his tone was a happy one.

“Got Peri and Lemonhead with us, too!” Amethyst responded. “Pearl and Pearl II: The Quickening are also okay, but they’re still in time-out.”

There was a brief pause, and then something that might have been a sigh. “I’ve missed everyone. I hate that I have to keep missing two of us, but I’m glad the other gems made it.” Another pause. “Connie?”

“At home waitin’ for ya,” the purple gem responded. “So…about Garnet’s question…”

“Oh, right. Yeah, one moment.” Something shuffled behind the debris for a moment, and then stopped. “Okay, ready!”

Lapis stuck her head and shoulders into the opening in the debris, but Amethyst grabbed her and pulled her back out.

“Let me go!” Lapis glared at the purple gem. “I need to make sure he’ll be okay.”

“You’re damaged,” Amethyst pointed out. “He won’t thank you for risking yourself.”

Lapis frowned. “But—”

“It’s fine.” Amethyst melted into light, and a purple copy of Lapis stood in her place a moment later. “I’ll handle this. You just hang out here for a bit.”

Lapis bit her lip, but nodded and stood back.

Amethyst took Lapis’ place and started to wriggle her way through the opening, struggling more than a little to push her hips past the opening. Yellow snickered at the sight, earning a sharp glare from the blushing blue gem. Well… Yellow couldn’t help it if it looked ridiculous.

Eventually, Amethyst squeezed through. There was more shuffling before the purple gem called out, “All right, we’re ready and waiting!”

Garnet summoned her gauntlet over her right hand and punched the debris, sending rocks and dirt flying in all directions. Yellow coughed as dust filled the air, her eyes watering.

Then everything settled again, and Amethyst - now in her usual form - was helping a coughing Steven out into the open.

“Steven!” Peridot ran forward to hug the boy, followed closely by Garnet. Steven collapsed into the hug, sobbing in what Yellow assumed was relief.

“I was so worried!” Steven exclaimed between sniffles. “We’d been waiting for days, and Lapis never found any of you, and Jasper was prowling around all over the place, and—”

“Shhh…” Garnet stroked his hair. “It’s all right. Everyone’s safe.”

Lapis took a couple hesitant steps toward the group hug, and Amethyst grabbed her arm to pull her in. Garnet reached out to pull Yellow in, as well - her arm covering so much distance that Yellow was sure she was using shape shifting.

Yellow didn’t fight it. The contact was weird and unpleasant, but this wasn’t about her. Steven seemed to need all this affection, and she supposed he more than deserved it after being trapped for so long, especially with all he’d done for her before this fiasco. The boy looked so small and weak now…it was frightening when she knew how strong he could normally be.

But they’d fix that soon, right? She glanced toward Garnet, who was staring at her thoughtfully. Then the red gem nodded and ruffled Steven’s hair. “Let’s get you fixed up. Then you’ll have a warm meal and a soft bed waiting.”

“Yeah…” Steven buried his face in Garnet’s shoulder. “That sounds amazing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay...hopefully, I didn't disappoint too many people. ^.^; Sorry guys, but I've already done the "Jasper fights a Pearl" scene several stories back, and I'm not sure Yellow would be up to the task anyway after only a week of training. She did play a key role in the fight, though...eventually.
> 
> Steven and Lapis have had a rough week. Fortunately, they've been found and now they can be taken care of. I'm sure the gems will find a way to let Greg know Steven's safe once he's back home and settled.
> 
> As for Jasper...she's detained for now, but I can't say for certain that this is the last time we'll see her. I know Steven will want to try and convert her at some point. Her and the three Rubies they captured some time ago (I haven't forgotten, nor have I forgotten about the two that escaped. I have...plans...). We'll see what happens in some future story or other.
> 
> Yellow's story is just about wrapped up. Just a little more to go from here. I'd like to say that I'm returning to one-shots for a while, but the next story feels like it wants to be kind of long, so we'll see. It's one I'm really looking forward to getting started on, and one I hope I get to finish and upload before going to visit some family for Thanksgiving. We'll see what happens.


	7. Acceptance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yellow reflects on everything.

_He seems better._ Yellow leaned against the railing that surrounded the deck and watched as Steven played with Lion on the beach. The play had started with Steven attempting to teach his pet how to catch a ball, but it quickly turned into roughhousing that was just as quickly devolving into him simply hugging the giant pink animal.

The boy’s condition had outwardly improved at the fountain. As it turned out, he’d badly sprained one ankle and received some sort of head wound that made him disoriented. Those had been fixed immediately when he submerged himself in Rose’s fountain. Several cups of water, two warm meals, and a twelve-hour sleep cycle had fixed most of the rest of his physical problems.

Then there was the warm welcome provided by Connie and Jamie, and the phone call to Greg that led to the older man visiting for the entire next day. No matter how much fixing Steven’s body helped, it was his interaction with the people he cared about that seemed to do the actual healing. It was strange - Steven had regained full mobility and eliminated his pain by taking care of himself, but it was only talking to his friends and family that returned him to his usual happy self.

It wasn’t as though she was a stranger to caring about others. She was a Pearl - her entire existence had been centered around caring for Yellow Diamond…until things took a turn for the worse. She’d considered herself friends with the Pearls belonging to her Diamond’s elite, but none of that reached anywhere near the level of Steven’s caring for those around him. He sacrificed his time and energy and risked sacrificing his standing with his superiors to make sure everyone he cared about was happy and functioning.

And her own past friendships…well…

She supposed it was to be expected. As a Pearl, any kind of relationship she could have made was defined by fear or convenience. Nearly all of her time was reserved for serving her Diamond, after all. That was just the way things were meant to be, as a Pearl and as a gem under Yellow Diamond’s rule. It had hurt to realize that any and all feelings between gems in the court were even shallower than she’d assumed, but that was mostly what she’d come to expect. That had been the norm, so it hadn’t bothered her before she was forced to flee.

There really was something special about Earth, wasn’t there?

She’d come here entirely by accident, and she would have avoided the planet if given the choice. Now…she could probably say in all honesty that she was glad she’d ended up in the custody of the Crystal Gems. They’d treated her with suspicion at first - and a certain blue gem still did - but that was fine. Objectively speaking, it would have been stupid for them to do otherwise. Now, she almost felt like one of them.

Almost.

When she’d first arrived here, Steven had been completely friendly and sympathetic, and he’d acted like she was already part of the team. Some of the other gems had been friendly to her, but not nearly on his level. Connie had never been mean to her, but it seemed to Yellow like the two of them were almost friends, now. Garnet and Amethyst trusted her more - Amethyst in particular, since she was still Yellow’s mentor. Even Peridot was seemed to view her like she actually belonged there. Pearl and Blue…well…inert gems couldn’t treat anyone like anything, but she couldn’t wait to see their reactions when the others told them what they’d missed out on, and Pearl did tend toward kindness even if it was mixed with wariness.

Even with the distrust, the treatment she received here was above and beyond the treatment she was accustomed to as a Pearl. Stars, it was even above and beyond the treatment she expected most Quartzes enjoyed. She’d never been respected or protected before. Not really. It was nice - nicer than anything she might have lost from fleeing Homeworld. Given enough time, she could definitely get used to this. And if it meant she had to destroy the physical form of the occasional monster, she supposed she could get used to that, too.

It was worth it for her continued existence and freedom, and she owed it to Steven. That boy had saved her in more ways than he’d ever realize.

A yell pulled her out of her thoughts just in time to sidestep the ball that was sailing toward her. The toy flew past her and hit the wall of the house before rolling against her feet. She lifted the front half of her left foot and rested her toes on the ball, pinning it to the ground and keeping it from rolling away. Steven would want it back, after all.

“Yellow!” Steven waved to her, as if he needed to catch her attention again. “Come play with us!”

 _Us?_   She searched the sands, spotting Lion just in time to watch him disappear through a portal.

Steven frowned at the giant pink feline before turning back toward the house. “I guess he had some things to do, but you can still come play with me.”

Yellow looked from the boy’s hopeful expression to the ball. This was a completely absurd request. She didn’t have to follow it - he’d still care about and protect her if she simply headed back inside. She doubted anyone would fault her - the gems did sometimes indulge him, but they frequently turned down his requests for them to join in whatever human game he was wanting to play.

Absolutely nothing was stopping her…except that she found the idea of disappointing Steven absolutely abhorrent. It didn’t matter that she wouldn’t be punished for it. The boy deserved whatever happiness he could get out of his existence.

Yellow bent down and scooped up the small round object. “Why not?”

Steven cheered as she made her way down to the beach, and Yellow found herself smiling at his enthusiasm. Earth was weird. The things she did here were often strange and even terrifying. Still, she’d felt more whole and alive in the past couple weeks than she had in her thousands of years of service to her former Diamond.

This was her life now, and she was going to enjoy it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we've reached the end of Yellow's transition and the story. Steven's pretty good at adding moms to his family. XD
> 
> For those wondering, Lapis is also physically okay after a visit to the fountain. She and Yellow just don't get along, so Yellow had no reason to be concerned for her. ^.^;;
> 
> There are several more stories coming in the series, of course. I know it's horribly, horribly AU at this point, but it's an AU I'm attached to, so I intend to continue it to its currently-planned end. I'd like to write something completely canon-compliant eventually, but I think I'll wait for the series end before that happens.

**Author's Note:**

> Here we are - the fic I didn't intend to write until much much later. Gotta do what the story demands, I guess.
> 
> So this story is actually entirely written already. I like to get the story done ahead of time when I can so I can update it in a timely manner and do major edits if needed without confusing my readers. You should have the other parts fairly soon, though I don't know exactly how often I'll be updating things (within a few days I'm sure). I hope you enjoy this. Yellow Pearl honestly is not one of my liked characters, but I tried my best to be fair to her.


End file.
